Video Poker table

Hold the pair of 4s (Qc and 4c are kept for the pair). Discard Qc, Th, and 5s to draw three new cards, aiming to improve to three of a kind, full house, or four of a kind. A pair of 4s is currently below the pay threshold (needs jacks or better), so maximizing the draw potential with three replacements gives the best expected value.

Holding the Ten and King gives the best expected value. The Ten-King combination offers multiple winning paths: any jack or queen completes a straight (16 outs), any diamond completes a flush (8 outs after accounting for overlap), and any ten or king improves the hand. Discarding the 3, 9, and 7 removes dead weight and maximizes EV over 38 remaining hands.

Holding the three kings and ace gives a strong guaranteed hand (three of a kind, 15 credits). Discarding the 3 offers a 4/47 chance to improve to a full house (45 credits) without risking the current win. This maximizes expected value.

Holding only the Ace (a high card that could form a pair of aces, a straight with 2-3-4-6, or a flush draw) gives the best expected value by discarding all low unpaired cards (6-3-5-7) that have no immediate value. This maximizes the probability of drawing into a paying hand.

Hold the Jack and Ace. This preserves a pair of high cards (jacks or better pays 1 credit) while maximizing draws for improvement to straights, flushes, or better. Discarding the small cards 6, 4, 3 gives the best expected value given the deck composition.

Hold the pair of tens (jacks or better pays 5 credits). Discarding 4s, 5d, 2d gives the best chance to improve to three of a kind, full house, or better while securing the minimum payout of 5 credits if no improvement occurs.

Holding As, Js, Ts gives a strong four-card royal flush (A-K-Q-J of spades with A and J in hand, plus T). This has excellent draw potential to hit the royal flush or make a straight/flush. Discarding Kh and Ad removes low-value cards that don't synergize with the royal draw.

Current hand has a pair of 9s (jacks or better), worth 5 credits. Holding K9 offers the best EV by drawing three cards with chances to make two pair, three of a kind, or better while keeping the guaranteed pair of 9s. Discarding 5, 4, and 9d maximizes upside potential.

Hold the pair of fours and draw three cards. While the pair doesn't currently pay (needs jacks or better), holding it gives the best chance to improve to three of a kind, full house, or four of a kind. Discarding all three non-pair cards (9d, Ad, Qh) maximizes the probability of hitting a paying hand on the draw.

Hold the 3d (pair of threes). While this hand currently has no immediate value, keeping a low pair gives a chance to improve to three of a kind, full house, or four of a kind on the draw. Discarding all five cards offers no winning potential.

Hold K♥ A♦ Q♦ 5♦ (discard 5♥). This keeps the pair of fives and three cards to a royal flush, maximizing EV. Discarding the low kicker improves chances for broadway cards while retaining the guaranteed pair payout.

Hold Jc, 9c, Ac (three cards to a flush with an ace). This gives 15 outs to complete a flush (9 more clubs) while keeping the ace high card. Discarding 3c and 8h to draw two cards maximizes EV compared to holding only the jack or ace, or breaking up the flush draw.

Hold the Ace, Jack, and Queen. These three cards offer the best chance for a paying hand: they can make a straight (with 10K or KQ combinations in the remaining deck), royal flush (if we draw two overcards including 10), or jacks-or-better immediately. Discarding 2h and 9h removes the lowest cards; neither contributes to premium hands.

Hold the Jack of spades only. This is the strongest card (paying 1 credit if paired). Discarding the 6h, 4d, 3s, and 5h gives the best chance to draw a second high card (A, K, Q, or J) for a pair of jacks or better, or to draw cards forming a straight (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, T) or flush. This maximizes expected value over a zero-value four-card hand.

Holding 4d and 5d gives two diamonds with potential for a flush (6 more diamonds in the remaining 47 cards) or straight (3 more fours, 3 more sixes). This balanced holding offers better expected value than keeping the unpaired 10-high or discarding all five cards.

Hold only the Jack of diamonds. It's the only card with potential to make a paying hand (jacks or better). Discarding four cards gives maximum opportunity to draw to a pair of jacks or better, or a straight/flush. All other cards (T, 8, 4, 9) are too weak or scattered to form reliable combinations.

Hold Js-Kc-Ad for high card strength and multiple royal/straight flush draws. The Js and Kc are premium cards (jacks or better), and the Ad gives four straight flush combinations (A-K-Q-J and A-2-3-4 possibilities). Discarding 5d and 5h leaves two low pair cards that clutter the hand without contributing to high-value outcomes.

Hold the 2h to draw four cards seeking a flush (four hearts present in hand). The 2h provides draw potential toward a flush (needs three more hearts) or a wheel straight (A-2-3-4-5). Discarding T-8-J gives the best expected value among the 32 hold patterns for this weak unpaired hand.

No paying hand present (7-T-Q-9-2 with no pairs, no flush draw, no straight draw). Discarding all five cards gives the best expected value by allowing five fresh cards from the deck, with a chance to hit any winning combination.

Discard Ts and 4s to pursue a flush draw with three hearts (8h, 7h, Ah) plus an ace. This maximizes expected value by targeting the flush (pays 30) while retaining the ace as a kicker for potential high card or pair improvement.

Hold the pair of Kings and Queen (jacks or better). Discarding the 6 and 4 gives the best expected value by pursuing a full house, three of a kind, or additional high pair while keeping the guaranteed payout.

Hold Ac and Qc to pursue a flush or high pair. The Q is a paying hand as-is (Jacks or better), and the two clubs offer flush draw potential with 9 remaining clubs in the 47-card deck. Discarding the 9c, 9h, and 8h maximizes expected value over holding the pair of 9s (which only pays 1 credit) or trying for a full house.

Hold Ad-Qh for the pair of queens (Jacks or Better pays 5 credits). This is a strong foundational hand with two-card royal potential (A-Q of different suits). Discarding 7s-5c-Qd gives the best expected value by pursuing a second queen or completing a royal flush draw while maintaining the guaranteed pair payout.

The Queen is the only paying card (Jacks or Better) in this hand. Discarding the other four cards gives the best chance to improve by drawing to a potentially stronger hand or completing a straight/flush, while keeping the guaranteed 1-credit payout if we fail to improve.

Hold Q-K-A (positions 1,3,5) for a strong three-card royal draw with two high pairs and ace kicker. Discard 9c and 6h to maximize the probability of hitting a royal flush, straight flush, or full house.

Pair of sevens is a jacks-or-better winner worth 5 credits. While pair of nines would be worth 5 credits as well, keeping both pairs gives full house potential (if the draw hits a 7 or 9) worth 45 credits, making it the highest expected value play.

Dealt 5h 2c 6d Kc 3s with no pairs or high cards except the King. The only reasonable play is to hold the King (jacks or better) and discard the four low cards. This guarantees at least 5 credits (1 per credit for a pair of jacks or better) while drawing four new cards offers a small chance at straights, flushes, or three/four of a kind.

Hold the pair of 9s (9d, 9h). A made pair guarantees a 5-credit return, while the other cards have no immediate value. Discarding 8d, 5d, and Qh gives three chances to improve to three-of-a-kind (pays 15), full house (45), or four-of-a-kind (125), which significantly exceeds the baseline payout.

Hold only the Jack of spades (a paying card). Discarding 5s, 6c, 3c, 4h gives the best chance to draw a second high card for Jacks or Better or connect to a straight (A-2-3-4 or 5-6-7-8-9 with 5 or 6 returned). Holding multiple low cards together is mathematically inferior.

Pair of fives is a small pair with no high cards; holding both fives and discarding 7d, Kc, Js gives the best expected value by pursuing full house (if we catch a 7 or K) or trips (if we catch a 5), while keeping our pair foundation.

Hold the Queen and 6h (pair of sixes). Discarding Ts, 6s, and 2c gives the best chance to improve to a paying hand (trips, full house, or better) while keeping the pair as insurance. The pair of sixes itself doesn't pay, but the draw offers good expected value for improvement.

Hold the 3c only. The pair of 3s does not pay (Jacks or Better requires at least a pair of Jacks), so keeping both 3s gains nothing. Discarding 6d, 4c, 3s, and 8c gives the best expected value, with two remaining outs (another 3 or trips potential) while avoiding a worse outcome than breaking up the useless pair.

Hold the Ace and three spades (7s, 4s) to pursue a flush or ace-high straight. Discarding 6h and 6s gives four cards to a flush with two high cards, which has strong expected value. The pair of sixes doesn't pay, so breaking it is correct.

Hold the pair of aces (positions 1 and 3). This guarantees a payout of at least 5 credits. Discarding 9h, Td, and Kd gives three chances to improve to a full house, three of a kind, or potentially a flush. The King and Ten of diamonds are less valuable than the aces in this position.

Holding K-Q-Q gives a guaranteed pair of queens (jacks or better, 5 credits). Discarding 5s and 6s maximizes chances to improve to three of a kind, full house, or better while keeping the high card king. This balances a safe minimum payout against the upside of improvement.

Holding 9d, Js, 6d gives a chance at a straight (8-9-T-J-Q with either 8 or T) or trips. Discarding 5c and 7d removes low cards that don't contribute to strong hands. This maximizes expected value by pursuing the straight draw while keeping the Jack.

Holding the single pair of fours (4s and 4c) maximizes expected value. Discarding all other cards gives the best chance of improving to two pair, three of a kind, or four of a kind. The 10d and 5d offer no immediate value, and breaking up the pair or chasing straights/flushes has lower expected return.

Holding 7d and 6d gives four cards to a flush with two high-value draw cards. This maximizes the probability of completing a flush (30 credits) or improving to a straight flush (250 credits), both of which significantly exceed the cost of the draw. The other three cards (3d, 8h, 4c) offer no immediate value and are discarded.

Hold the pair of aces and king (jacks or better), discard the low cards (2h, 2c). With two aces and a king already, keeping the premium pair maximizes expected value by securing at least 5 credits while having chances to draw to trips, a full house, or better.

Hold the pair of tens (Ts, Td). This is a made hand paying 5 credits (jacks or better), and the expected value of drawing three cards to improve is positive. Discarding 7c, 2d, and 8s gives the best chance to hit a second pair, three of a kind, full house, or four of a kind.